This celebratory Design Museum exhibition considers the lasting influence of
Terence Conran, one of Britain's great designers.

Terence Conran might be more famous in Britain as a retailer and businessman, but Terence Conran: The Way We Live Now is focused on his career as a designer, a role that has underpinned everything he has achieved over the last 60 years.

As Terence Conran founded the Design Museum in 1989 and continues to support it, it’s essential that we present an exhibition which celebrates his work and demonstrates his design legacy and influence. As a curator the challenge was to select the key moments from a career with so many highlights.

The Matador chair and footstool. Image: Coran Collection

Quite early on it became apparent that a chronological display of Conran’s life might not make for a coherent exhibition. With so many different narratives and stories to present we instead decided to approach his life thematically, splitting the exhibition into the categories that have defined his career: designer, retailer and restaurateur.

The show opens with a look at Conran’s childhood. He was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1931 and was an avid collector in his youth. After considering his childhood the exhibition traces his early years as a designer during the 1950s and his subsequent move into manufacturing. Following a brief period studying textile design at the Central School of Art in London, Conran was employed by the architect Dennis Lennon to work on exhibits at the 1951 Festival of Britain. During this period he was on the fringes of the Independent Group and was influenced by the work of his friend Eduardo Paolozzi. That connection is most visible in Conran’s textile designs, which form part of the display. An early exhibition of his work at Simpson’s of Piccadilly helped raise his profile alongside a number of features in House and Garden and other magazines. Even at a young age Conran knew the value of good publicity.

His success led him to produce work for a number of clients across a range of disciplines: textiles for David Whitehead and Edinburgh Weavers; ceramics for Midwinter; and his own Conran range of branded furniture, all of which are featured in the exhibition.

In the 1960s he designed shop interiors for Mary Quant before moving into retail, opening the first Habitat store on King’s Road in 1964. The shop sold Conran’s own designs but also stocked emerging design brands such as Kartell, Artemide and Braun. Fabrics by the British textile studio Collier Campbell brought colour to the high street and collectively the shops presented a completely new look for the modern home. This section is the largest of the exhibition and includes a recreation of a ‘Habitat-style’ room. In addition we’ve considered the other elements that made Habitat a success, such as the simple drawings of products by Juliet Glynn-Smith that featured on the first bags, catalogues and posters.

Conran brought European style to the UK – a stint washing dishes in Paris taught him about the restaurant business and inspired his first dining establishment, The Soup Kitchen, which opened in 1953. When moving into retail he stocked Habitat with garlic presses, pasta makers and woks; to help shoppers understand how to operate these ‘exotic’ objects, Habitat catalogues included users’ guides. As well as influencing our tastes in interior design, Conran was educating our palates.

The 59th Street sofa by Terence Conran. Image: Coran Collection

Within this food section we have also included that most quintessential of Habitat items: the chicken brick. As Habitat grew so did Conran’s interest in restaurants and we have recreated elements from ten of his most important gastronomic enterprises, including Bibendum, Bluebird and Quaglino’s. The show closes with a look at Conran’s work and life today, with a focus on Benchmark, the furniture-making company he set up in the grounds of his house in Berkshire. We have also recreated Conran’s office, painstakingly moving over 1000 items to present a duplicate office containing books, photographs and his desk and chair. For me, this intimate insight into the designer’s personal world is a highlight of the exhibition.

The intention behind the exhibition is to show how Conran’s influence has changed how we consume design. His work as a designer in the 1950s has not been previously well-documented and many of the pieces we are exhibiting will be new to the museum audience. Whilst securing and sourcing some of the exhibits was a huge undertaking, the exhibition is a true celebration of Terence Conran’s career and a demonstration of how one man has influenced the way we live now.

When: until March 4Where: Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1 2YDGetting there: the nearest Tube stations are Bermondsey, London Bridge and Tower HillAdmission: £10; concessions £9; students £6Your view: Let us know your thoughts on the exhibition. Add your review to the comments below; email them to london@telegraph.co.uk; or tweet us @TelegraphLondon